Security systems are often installed within and around buildings such as commercial, residential, or governmental buildings. Examples of these buildings include offices, hospitals, warehouses, schools or universities, shopping malls, government offices, and casinos. The security systems typically include components such as system controllers, access control readers, video surveillance cameras, network video recorders (Wits), and door controllers, to list a few examples.
The access control readers are often installed throughout the buildings to control access to restricted areas, such as the buildings themselves or areas of the buildings or resources within the buildings such as computer systems or elevators. The access control readers authenticate identities of (or authorize) users and then permit those authenticated users to access the restricted areas. In one example, users interact with the access control readers by swiping keycards or bringing contactless, smart cards within range (approximately 2-3 inches or 5 centimeters) of a reader. In another example, users present credential information such as usernames and passwords stored on fobs or mobile phones of the users, which wirelessly communicate their credential information to the access control readers when the mobile phones are within range of a threshold area of the building. See “Method and system for access control proximity location,” US Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 14/605,165 filed Jan. 26, 2015, now U.S. Pat. Pub. No US 2016/0055692 A1, which is incorporated herein by this reference in its entirety.
The access control readers read or receive the user credential information from the keycards or mobile phones and then the access control systems determine if the users are authorized to access the restricted areas. If the users are authorized to enter the restricted areas, then the access control readers allow access to the restricted areas by unlocking locked doors, signaling that doors should be unlocked, or not generating alarm upon unauthorized user entry, for example.